Liquid dispensing apparatus



RE n7z July 21, 1959 J. c. DAWSON 2,895,649

LIQUID DISPENSING APPARATUS Filed June 9, 195a V/lll/ \l United StatesPatent 2,895,649 LIQUID DISPENSING APPARATUS Joseph Carl Dawson,Ferguson, Mo. Application June 9, 1958, Serial No. 740,777 6 Claims.(Cl. 222-318) This invention relates to liquid dispensing apparatus, andmore particularly to apparatus for dispensing measured dosages of aliquid fumigant or the like.

Among the several objects of the invention may be noted the provision ofportable apparatus for dispensing through a delivery hose small measureddosages of a liquid fumigant or the like, and more particularly afumigant such as is disclosed in my US. Patent 2,606,857, for spotfumigation in cereal mills for continuous infestation control, theapparatus being supplied with liquid fumigant from a source underpressure, and being operable by this pressure under control of amanually operable delivery valve at the end of the delivery hose; theprovision of apparatus of this class which may be readily completelyprimed (i.e., initially filled with liquid from the source all the wayto the delivery valve); the provision of apparatus of this class whichis adapted to be supplied with liquid from the source under pressure viaa relatively long supply hose line; and the provision of apparatushaving the stated characteristics which is economical to manufacture andmaintain and reliable in operation. Other objects and features will bein part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the constructions hereinafterdescribed, the scope of the invention being indicated in the followingclaims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which one of various possibleembodiments of the invention is illustrated,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a liquid dispensing apparatus of thisinvention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fig. 1; and,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of Fig. 2, with parts brokenaway and shown in section.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding partsthroughout the several views of the drawlngs.

Referring to the drawings, a liquid dispensing apparatus of thisinvention is shown to comprise a portable support generally designated 1in the form of a tripod having legs 3, a head plate 5, and cross bracessuch as indicated at 7. A carrying handle 9 is secured to the headplate. Mounted in the tripod is an assembly designated in its entiretyby the reference character 11 and including a vertical cylinder 13, aby-pass 15 for this cylinder, and an air chamber 17 having its lower endin communication with the lower end of they cylinder 13. In the bypass15 there is an adjustable valve 19. This may be a conventional needle,valve, for example.

More particularly, the cylinder 13 comprises a tube 21 having an upperend head 23 and a lower end head 25. The lower end head 25 has anupwardly extending nipple 27 projecting upward into the tube, and has apassage 29 for flow of liquid upward through the nipple into the tube.Attached to the lower end head 25 is the stem of a T 31. A short lengthof pipe 33 extends from one side of the T 31 and has a T 35 secured toone end thereof. The stem of the T 35 is secured to the lower end ofthe. air chamber 17. An elbow 37is sepressure, in the delivery hose whenthe delivery valve is cured to the other side of the T 31. A supply hose39 (which may be a plastic hose, such as a polyethylene hose) is securedto the T 35 on the other side from pipe 33. This hose 39 is adapted tobe connected to a source of liquid under pressure (not shown). It may berelatively long (one hundred feet long, for example).

The upper end head 23 of tube 21 is formed with an annular shoulder 41which constitutes a valve seat. A T 43 has one side secured to the upperend head 23. An elbow 45 is secured to the stem of the T 43. A deliveryhose 47 (which may be a plastic hose, such as a polyethylene hose)extends from the other side (the upper end) of T 43. The by-pass valve19 has one end secured to the lower elbow 37 and its other end connectedto the upper elbow 45 by a length of plastic hose 49. Valve 19 has ahandle or knob 51 for adjustment thereof to vary the extent of theopening of the passage through the valve 19. This may be varied from arelatively small orifice to a relatively wide opening.

A valve member generally designated 53 is vertically movable in the tube21 of cylinder 13. This valve member 53 comprises a weight 55 (a body ofleads, for example), having at its upper end two vertically spacedhorizontal disks 57 and 59 which may be made of plastice such aspolyethylene. The upper disc 57 is a valve disk engageable with theshoulder or seat 41 to cut off flow from the upper end of the cylinder13 to the delivery hose 47. The lower disk 59 serves as a piston wherebythe valve member 53 is adapted to rise in the cylinder from an initialposition at the lower end of the cylinder (illustrated in dotted linesin Fig. 2) in response to a pressure drop in the cylinder above valvemember 53. Both disks have a relatively loose fit in the cylinder sothat the valve member 53, without undue impedance, is adapted to sink tothe lower end of the cylinder under the gravity bias of its weight uponequalization of pressure above and below valve member 53. At the lowerend of the weight 55 is an inverted cup 61 which covers nipple 27 whenthe valve member 53 is at the lower end of the cylinder 13. The upperdisk may be made of 'a metal-backed synthetic rubber resistant to theliquid, and the lower disk may be made of metal such as brass.

The assembly 11 is held in the tripod 1, bearing on a horizontalcrossbar 63, as by means of a U-bolt 65 stradling the air chamber 17 andsecured to an upper brace 7. The supply hose 37 extends through a bracemember such as indicated at 67 and a coil spring 69 may be providedaround the supply hose where it extends through member 67 to protect thehose. At the outer end of the delivery hose 47 is a manually operabledelivery valve 71 of a conventional type having a delivery nozzle 73 anda manually operable lever 75 for opening it. The delivery valve includesa check valve 77 adapted to open in the direction indicated by the arrowin Fig. 2 under opened.

Operation is as follows;

The supply hose line 37 is connected to a source of liquid underpressure (not shown) such as a pressurized supply tank. The pressure inhose 37 is preferably regulated to be, for example, about fifty toseventy-five pounds per square inch. When such pressure is employed, thecheck valve 77 is one that is adapted to open under about ten pounds persquare inch pressure in the delivery hose line 47. The bypass valve 19is opened wide to allow liquid to flow freely through the by-pass 15 tothe delivery hose line 47 to prime the apparatus. Then the by-pass valve19 is turned down to provide a restriction in the by-pass 15 such as toefiect a pressure drop in cylinder 13 above the valve member 53 wheneverthe manually operable delivery valve 71 is operated.

Thus, when the delivery valve 71 is opened, the pres- 13 with'cup 61covering nipple ingly, the valve member 53 is driven upward by the'presi sure below it in cylinder 13 and rises to the upper end ofcylinder 13. As it rises, it forces liquid out of the upper end of thecylinder 13 and through the delivery hose 47 to deliver a measured doseof liquid through the nozzle 73 of the delivery valve 71. end of thecylinder 13,' the valve disk 57 engages the seat 41 as shown in Fig. 3to cut off delivery (except for the negligible amount that leaks throughthe restriction in the by-pass provided by valve 19). Upon such cut-off,

Upon rising to the upper the pressure in the delivery hose 47 dropsbelow that required to maintain the check valve 77 open, and this checkvalve closes to keep the delivery hose primed, even though the operatorshould not at once release the lever 75 of the delivery valve 71 toallow it to close. However, the cut-01f is readily sensed by feel sothat the operator may immediately release the lever 75 to close thedelivery valve 71.

With the delivery valve 71 closed, pressure from the supply hose bleedsthrough the restriction in by-pass 15 provided by valve 19, and thepressure above and below the valve member 53 equalizes, whereupon thevalve member 53 sinks down to the lower end of the cylinder 13. When itreaches the lower end of the cylinder, the apparatus is ready for thenext operation.

With liquid under pressure in the delivery hose 39, a supply ofcompressed air is maintained in the air chamber 17 above the level ofliquid in the chamber. This chamber being close to the cylinder 13, thecompressed air therein is etfective on opening the delivery valve 71 forapplication of pressure to the liquid at the lower end of the cylinder13 to offset the inertia of liquid and the loss of head in supply hose39 from the source of liquid under pressure to the dispensing apparatus.This is particularly useful in case the supply hose is of such length(one hundred feet, for example) that the liquid therein has considerableinertia and is of such character as to have a substantial friction head.

In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of theinvention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As various changes could be made in the above constructions withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanyingdrawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for dispensing measured dosages of a liquid, such as aliquid fumigant, comprising a vertical cylinder having an inlet at itslower end and an outlet at its upper end, a hose line for supplyingliquid under pressure to the cylinder having a connection to thecylinder inlet, said cylinder having a valve seat at its upper end, avertically movable valve member in the cylinder, said valve member beingadapted to sink to the lower end of the cylinder, and being adapted torise in the cylinder in response to a pressure drop in the cylinderabove the valve member and force out liquid through the cylinder outlet,said valve member, upon rising to the upper end of the cylinder, beingengageable with said valve seat to cut off flow from the upper end ofthe cylinder, a delivery hose having a connection to the cylinderoutlet, a manually operable delivery valve at the outer end of thedelivery hose, a bypass around the cylinder providing for communicationfrom the supply hose to the cylinder outlet above the valve seat, and avalve in the by-pass adapted to provide a restriction in the by-passsuch as to effect a pressure drop in the. cylinder above said valvemember upon operation of said manually operable valve and adapted toprovide for equalization of pressure above and below said valve memberafter the latter has risen into engagement with said valve seat and saidmanually operable valve is closed, whereupon the valve member sinks tothe lower end of the cylinder.

2. Apparatus for dispensingmeasured dosages of a liquid, such as aliquid fumigant, comprising a vertical cylinder having an inlet at itslower end and an outlet at its upper end, a hose line for supplyingliquid under pressure to the cylinder having a connection to thecylinder inlet, said cylinder having a valve seat at its upper end, avertically movable valve member in the cylinder, said valve member beingweighted so that it is adapted to sink to the lower end of the cylinder,and being adapted to rise in the cylinder in response to a pressure dropin the cylinder above the valve member and force out liquid through thecylinder outlet, said valve member, upon rising to the upper end of thecylinder, being engageable with said valve seat to cut ofl? flow fromthe upper end of the cylinder, a delivery hose having a connection tothe cylinder outlet, a manually operable delivery valve at the outer endof the delivery hose, said manually operable valve including a checkvalve adapted to open for delivery of liquid upon operation of saidmanually operable valve and to close upon a reduction of pressure in thedelivery hose below a predetermined limit, a by-pass around the cylinderproviding for communication from the supply hose to the cylinder outletabove the valve seat, and a valve in the by-pass adapted to provide arestriction in the by-pass such as to effect a pressure drop in thecylinder above said valve member upon operation of said manuallyoperable valve and adapted to provide for equalization of pressure aboveand below said valve member after the latter has risen into engagementwith said valve seat and said manually operable valve is closed,whereupon the valve member sinks to the lower end of the cylinder, saidby-pass valve also being adapted to be opened wide for priming.

3. Apparatus for dispensing measured dosages of a liquid, such as aliquid fumigant, comprising a portable support, a vertical elongatecylinder carried by the support having an inlet at its lower end and anoutlet at its upper end, a hose line for supplying liquid under pressureto the cylinder having a connection to the cylinder inlet, said cylinderhaving a valve seat at its upper end, a vertically movable valve memberin the cylinder, said valve member being weighted so that it is adaptedto sink to the lower end of the cylinder, and being adapted to rise inthe cylinder in response to a pressure drop in the cylinder above thevalve member and force out liquid through the cylinder outlet, saidvalve member, upon rising to the upper end of the cylinder, beingengageable with said valve seat to cut off flow from the upper end ofthe cylinder, a delivery hose having a connection to the cylinderoutlet, a manually operable delivery valve at the outer end of thedelivery hose, said manually operable valve including a check valveadapted to open for delivery of liquid upon operation of said manuallyoperable valve and to close upon a reduction of pressure in the deliveryhose below a predetermined limit, a bypass around the cylinder providingfor communication from the supply hose to the cylinder outlet above thevalve seat, a valve in the by-pass adapted to provide a restriction inthe by-pass such as to etfect a pressure drop in the cylinder above saidvalve member upon operation of said manually operable valve and adaptedto provide for equalization of pressure above and below said valvemember after the latter has risen into engagement with said valve seatand said manually operable valve is closed, whereupon the valve membersinks to the lower end of the cylinder, said by-pass valve also beingadapted to be opened wide for priming, and an air chamber carried by thesupport adjacent the cylinder having its lower end in communication withthe supply hose.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3 wherein the cylinder has anupwardly projecting nipple at its lower end through which liquid flowsinto the cylinder, and said valve member has an inverted cup at itslower end which covers the nipple when the valve member is at the lowerend of the cylinder.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3 wherein said valve seat comprisesan annular downwardly facing shoulder at the upper end of the cylinderand said valve member comprises a weight having a plastic disk at itsupper end engageable with said shoulder.

6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 5 wherein the cyl- 5 member is at thelower end of the cylinder.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSManning Oct. 21, 1952 2,741,404 Burton Apr. 10, 1956

